As the most recent presidential election demonstrated, present election systems are not 100% accurate. There are several problems with present election systems which contribute to the inherent inaccuracy. While the vast majority of ballots in most election systems are cast and recorded without incident, a small percentage of ballots are often counted incorrectly, either because of human error, or because the intent of the voter is not clear from the ballot. In close elections, the outcome may depend on the accurate accounting of every ballot. Furthermore, it should be the goal of every election to include the greatest participation of registered voters, and to accurately count as many cast ballots as possible in the final tabulation of results.
One problem with present election systems occurs when a voter votes too many or too few times on a particular ballot. As an example, the voter may be required to choose one candidate for the office a president, but choose several candidates for a local office. Voters occasionally vote for too many or too few candidates for a particular office, or forget to vote on a particular office or issue.
Another problem with most present election systems is each voter must show up to their designated voting location. It would be desirable to allow voters to choose among several voting locations. In this manner, more voters may be able to vote at a more convenient location, who otherwise may not have participated. Thus, total voter participation would be increased.
Another problem with present election systems is maintaining the integrity of the election by accounting for all of the ballots produced. Most election systems produce more ballots than necessary, and all ballots are identical. Ideally, one ballot would be produced for each voter, and furthermore the ballot would be unique to that voter, while maintaining anonymity with regard to the actual votes case by a particular voter.
Finally, in close elections, it is often important to audit the election to ensure an accurate tabulation. However, in many present election systems, entire batches of ballots must be reviewed, because there is no simple way to separate the erroneous ballots. The inventors are unaware of any current election system that provides a means to retrieve a set of ballots according to the vote data associated therewith. The result is a tremendous amount of tedious work to review entire batches of voted ballots in close elections.